New York|New Poll Shows de Blasio Beating All Comers but One: Hillary Clinton

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New Poll Shows de Blasio Beating All Comers but One: Hillary Clinton

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Mayor Bill de Blasio. A new poll shows that his favorability rating is below 50 percent and that a plurality of New Yorkers do not believe he deserves re-election, but that no likely challenger would beat him.CreditCreditSam Hodgson for The New York Times

For Mayor Bill de Blasio, the latest poll from Quinnipiac University offered more of the same: His favorability rating hovers below 50 percent, and a plurality of New Yorkers say he does not deserve re-election, but no challenger could beat him.

That is, if you discount the newest and perhaps most fanciful name to emerge as a possible opponent to Mr. de Blasio in this year’s mayoral race: Hillary Clinton.

Mrs. Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, garnered broad support and — if she were to run as an independent — would beat Mr. de Blasio in a head-to-head race, 49 to 30 percent, according to the poll, the first conducted since rumors of a possible run emerged in recent weeks.

The result is not a surprise considering that Mrs. Clinton beat President-elect Donald J. Trump easily in New York City in November. But it would be a surprise if she decided to announce a run.

So far, she and her aides have given no indication about her plans. Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress and a close confidante of Mrs. Clinton’s, told CNN this month that she did not expect Mrs. Clinton to seek public office again.

Even among the more likely potential challengers to Mr. de Blasio, including the city comptroller, Scott M. Stringer, and the former City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, only Tony Avella, a state senator from Queens, has formally mounted a campaign for mayor. And Mr. de Blasio topped them all in the poll.

Mr. Avella has not shown strength in his fund-raising efforts either, raising just $725 from seven people in the last filing period; the mayor, by comparison, raised more than $1 million from thousands of contributors. Several other declared candidates have not yet raised the sort of money necessary to mount a strong challenge to the mayor.

Polls have not shown broad support for Mr. de Blasio, though his approval rating has inched higher since August, when a majority of those surveyed gave him a negative rating.

The numbers still reflect a strong split between white voters, who largely reject Mr. de Blasio’s mayoralty, and black and Hispanic voters, who support him for a second term. (In a six-way Democratic primary against a field that did not include Mrs. Clinton, the poll shows the mayor prevailing among all demographics, including white voters.)

A spokesman for the mayor’s campaign declined to comment on the poll results, saying the Mr. de Blasio would be judged on his record.

In a matchup against Mrs. Clinton, the mayor trails her, 61 percent to 30 percent, among Democrats. Perhaps surprisingly, he beats her in that hypothetical contest among two groups not usually in his camp: Staten Island residents and Republicans.

Mr. de Blasio faces his most significant challenger in Paul J. Massey Jr., a Republican real estate executive who raised more money than the mayor over the past six months. Mr. Massey took in $1.8 million in contributions in that period and lent himself another $1.3 million from his personal fortune.

Yet despite Mr. Massey’s spending almost $2 million on his campaign so far, few New Yorkers are aware of his candidacy. For that reason, he was not included in the poll.

“We will certainly do surveys with him as long as he remains in,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll. “But for now, not enough people know about him.”

As for Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Malloy said that her name appeared in the poll in part because the possibility that she might run had become an object of public discussion. “She’s never said she’s not going to run for anything again,” he added. “It’s a possibility.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A23 of the New York edition with the headline: Poll Shows de Blasio Beating All but One Potential Rival. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe